Whales in New Zealand Euthanized

On Thursday, the thirty-three pilot whales that were still stranded on Farewell Spit were shot after many attempts to re-float them back out to sea failed. These whales were the last of ninety-nine who had stranded themselves on Monday. All week the conservation staff and volunteers tried to get them re-floated but could not do it.

On Wednesday they thought they had succeeded in getting the pilot whales back into deeper water but to their dismay when they checked on Thursday all thirty-three of the pilot whales had swum back ashore. By this time the condition of the pilot whales had deteriorated significantly.

Since the ninety-nine whales had stranded themselves on Monday, seventeen had been successfully re-floated by to the sea, thirteen are still not accounted for, and thirty-six of the pilot whales had died naturally.